AXIS Capital Holdings Limited announced on Monday that A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength rating of certain of its subsidiaries to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent).

The financial strength rating of A (Excellent) applies to the following subsidiaries: AXIS Specialty Limited, AXIS Re Limited, AXIS Specialty Europe Limited, AXIS Reinsurance Company and AXIS Specialty Insurance Company.

John Charman, president and CEO, said, "We are delighted with this rating upgrade from Best's and believe that it affirms our substantial financial strength and also recognises the great progress made at Axis over the last 16 months."

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited is a Bermuda based company with wholly owned (re)insurance subsidiaries which focus on reinsurance and specialty lines of insurance.